Between Two Tiron (27 page)

her knee and gave it a light squeeze.

She saw his smile out of the corner of her eye. “Ah, but you two only have to figure out

what is important about that vase. All the information is there. You merely have to solve the

puzzle. You gave me nothing to work with, teasing wretches.” She laughed, her eyes sparkling as

she leaned her head against Shard‟s arm.

“When have we had time to solve this puzzle?” Kaleb laughed and ran his fingers up her

thigh, pushing her green skirt up with the move.

“I did it and in much less time.” She smirked and patted Kaleb‟s hand in mock

consolation.

“We‟ll solve this little puzzle.” Shard grasped her chin in his fingers and dropped a kiss

on her lips. “Are you ready to apologize?”

“I told you that you‟d get your apology when you solved the vase‟s puzzle.” Lina smiled

with ease. An apology would be no problem. They‟d probably be feeling fairly happy around

that time. “The question is when that spark of discovery will happen for you two.”

“Push,
i’ma
.” Kaleb‟s lips curled in a toothy anticipatory smile. “That apology‟s going to

be sweet indeed. It only increases the things you owe us an apology for.”

Aboard the
Ovian
, she walked beside them, relaxed and in a good mood. The hallways

were more than wide enough for them to walk side by side. They showed her to a room filled

with monitors. The man stationed in front of them swung his head around at their entrance, but

quickly returned his eyes to the screens.

“Darin, our Lady will watch and listen to the interrogation.” Kaleb ushered her over to a

chair in front of a set of monitors. “Now just listen. No fooling around with the equipment in

here.”

“You could do better than this.” Lina swept an assessing eye over the equipment, an

intent look crossing her face. She settled in the seat, smoothing her skirt over her legs. “I

expected more on a ship like the
Ovian
.”

“Lina…” Shard pointed a finger at her. The woman was determined to change everything

to the most advanced, the most usable model available. “Leave it for now. Watch the

questioning.”

She smiled at the forbidding expressions on their faces. This place would need to be

almost completely redone.

“Sassy
rahki
, you need a lesson in respect.” Shard gave her a promising smile as his gaze

ran down her body and lingered on the curve of her buttocks. “I know you‟ll enjoy it.”

Kaleb walked into the interrogation room ahead of Shard. A man with shaggy red hair

and frigid blue eyes sat in front of the square, gray table. His brown forest attire had been

removed and in its place, he wore a gray one-piece suit. His hands were cuffed to the arms of the

chair which was bolted to the floor, ensuring that it couldn‟t be tipped. It would take a stronger

man than him to rip it free from its moorings.

Kaleb dropped into the chair opposite the man and Shard stood, leaning against the wall.

“I don‟t have to talk to you abominations.” The man raised his chin and looked through

Kaleb.

“Hello, Mr. Rainess.” Kaleb had heard it all before and the names didn‟t faze him. He

relaxed into the chair. “There isn‟t much reason for us to talk. The men you hired gladly said

everything that was needed.”

“Liar!” Rainess‟ face turned a bright red. He jerked against the bands holding his hands

to the chair. “Mongrel alien spawn, you would lie to your mother!”

“I believe they‟re trying to avoid placement on a penal colony from which there is no

return. Central Command was just as willing to send us your files.” Kaleb smiled as he watched

the man. “They‟re seizing your assets, I believe.”

“You smug bastard.” Rainess wrenched his body violently to the side in an attempt to

overturn the chair, probably in the hope that it would break. “You know that you have the proof.

You‟ve probably already destroyed it.”

“Your misconceptions never end, Rainess.” Kaleb laughed. The man was blind to all but

his own beliefs. “I‟ll have to make plans to attend your trial.”

“You fucking animal, there won‟t be a trial. I wouldn‟t give your kind the satisfaction,”

Rainess snarled, sagging in the chair, but his eyes blazed with hate.

“It hardly matters to me if it goes to trial, although seeing justice served would be

interesting. The depravity and the treachery of your group will become public regardless of a

trial. Anyone associated with that group will be ostracized by society and watched by Central

Command for the rest of their lives.” Kaleb gave a triumphant smile just to infuriate the man

across from him.

“Your friends will find it hard to do something like this again.” Shard‟s voice cut through

the silence as Rainess digested what their actions had wrought.

“You can‟t stop the truth from being found. It will come out at some point. Do you think

that that was the only record of it?” Rainess smirked, secure in his delusions. “Other teams will

find it and everyone will learn of your true origins, you freak.”

“I‟ve always wondered what your kind think would happen even if you came up with

proof of your crazy theories.” Shard crossed his right leg over his left as he relaxed against the

cool wall.

“There are beings who were actually created living on some planets in Protected Space

with full rights and recognition under Central Command‟s laws. As far as I can see there‟s no

stigma associated with being created in a lab or even being a child of one who was created.”

Kaleb added fuel to the fanatic‟s temper deliberately. He wanted the man‟s true responses. While

he was angry, he wasn‟t thinking of lies.

“They‟re abominations. Soon, everyone will see the truth about them, just as everyone

will see the truth about you.” Rainess glared at them. “You should be in cages, you‟re animals.”

Shard laughed. “You‟re truly delusional.”

“My curiosity has been satisfied.” Kaleb stood and turned toward Shard. “We‟ll be sure

to inform Command personnel of your intent to commit suicide when they arrive to retrieve you

and your companions.”

“If you make it through the trial, I think you‟ll find yourself exiled to one of the most

isolated, primitive prison worlds. You might just discover what a real wild animal would do to

you if it‟s threatened.” Shard smiled, showing his sharp pointed canines.

“My friends will see that I don‟t face such humiliation,” Rainess gloated with a

triumphant smile.

“They might end your life, but the motive would be a far different one than you believe.

They would want to ensure that you didn‟t try to trade information for a softer sentence.” Shard

turned and stalked toward the door. “In the end, their first thought would be to protect their own

freedom. How will your family fare at their hands?”

Kaleb smiled as the man‟s face became solemn. He joined Shard at the door. “You‟ll be

escorted back to your cell now, Rainess.”

They walked to the room where they‟d left Lina. She sat back in the chair, looking at the

screen, a contemplative look on her face, but they could tell that she wasn‟t seeing the pictures

flashing across it. Her mind was turning over what she had learned.

“I know that they believe that we hold the proof of their theory that the Santir were

created. I can‟t understand how they came to that conclusion or how they thought they could get

into even a lightly defended camp and hope to leave with it.” She didn‟t look at them as she

spoke.

Shard wasn‟t surprised that she was aware of their presence. Every nerve ending in his

body went on alert whenever she was near. It was nice to know that she was as affected as he

was.

“The last was simply overconfidence.” Kaleb strode over to her and held out his hand,

waiting until she looked up at him and then winked at her.

She took his hand and stepped into his embrace. His arms folded around her and pulled

her close to him for a moment. “And the first, what was that?”

“Ah, that.” Shard smiled with amusement as Kaleb guided her over to the door. “That

was because they‟d been given some false information by someone they trusted.”

Lina frowned in confusion. “Someone they trusted had given them false information? Did

the informant within Vedix‟s camp turn on them when he was picked up by Central Command?”

“No.” Kaleb pulled her hip up against his side. “You‟re looking for betrayal where there

was none. It was a simple misconception.”

Were they being deliberately difficult? Lina smacked him lightly on the stomach with her

open palm. She glared up at him. “Stop teasing.”

“But,
rah’ki
, it‟s such fun.” Shard tucked his arm around her waist and a smile

transformed the harsh planes of his face.

“Tell me or else.” She stamped her foot. She felt silly afterward, but they could frustrate

her more than she‟d ever been before in her life.

“Or else what,
i’ma
?” Kaleb stepped forward and she was forced to go along with them.

“Or else, I‟ll think of something horrible and do it to two characters which resemble you

and publish it and you can‟t sue me,” she threatened with utter seriousness. “Under Santir law, a

man can‟t sue his mate.”

“Oh, but there are other things we can do to you to get even, wild one.” Shard stopped,

dragging her to a halt beside him. With a finger under her chin, he tilted her chin up so that she

was looking into his eyes.

“It‟s simple to prevent it. Talk, you big tease.” She wrapped a fist in Shard‟s white shirt

and pulled. Not that it had much effect on the big man.

“For the sake of peace.” Kaleb rolled his eyes. “Sometimes you two are just too much

alike. The informant heard of your argument with Vedix when he was in our camp. He knew

only that the object was important to us, not why.”

She released Shard‟s shirt and glared up at him. “That wasn‟t hard.”

“Want to know the rest?” Shard grinned down at her, totally unruffled by her ire.

“Shard, I swear…” She growled wondering what she could make him into that wouldn‟t

be overly obvious. “I have never been so tempted to use a live person‟s image as I am right

now.”

“Ah,
i’ma
, do you think we‟d let you publish anything with characters based on us?”

Shard raised his brows. “Vedix was apparently very angry and not inclined to talk when he got

back to his camp. His assistant knew which piece, but not why.”

“And?” she prompted, determined to wring everything out of them.

“So the informant jumped to the conclusion that it was important because it was the proof

they were searching for. In his mind, that was the only reason we would refuse to let them have

it.” Shard tucked his arm around her and directed her down the hall once again.

“The idea was solidified in his mind when he learned we were having all of them

removed. With Vedix in an uncooperative mood, he had no idea of the true reason.” Kaleb‟s

fingers lifted a strand of her golden hair as they waited for one of the lifts.

“And the overconfidence.” Lina pressed her palm over the crisp white shirt covering

Shard‟s taut midriff.

She could feel the heat of his body, the sudden tensing of his muscles beneath her hand.

In a slow glide, she ran her hand down to the cloth-covered ridge of his cock. She stroked her

hand up and down over the firm rod. On a groan, his hips pushed into her hand.

“Lina…” Shard‟s hand gripped her wrist and pulled it away from the eager, aching flesh

which throbbed and pulsed with the desire for more of her touch.

“Well, what was their plan?” She wriggled the fingers of the hand he held. She inhaled

the heady scent of male desire and knew that they could just as easily smell her own. It would be

as clear to them as if they could touch or see the creamy nectar spilling onto her thighs in a hot

flood.

The lift arrived and the moment the doors opened, they almost shoved her into the

privacy of its confines.

“Their plan was a simple distract and grab. Two men were supposed to keep the few

guards in camp busy while the third ran in and found the vase, you little tease.” Kaleb‟s hand

patted her rear, the touch a little too firm for a tender caress.

“I wasn‟t teasing.” She laughed, turning her hand in Shard‟s loose grasp. A broad smile

tilted her lips as she tossed a wink up at Shard. “I was stroking you. Did it not feel good,
rao

nari
?”

“
I’ma
, it felt wonderful.” Shard ran the pad of his thumb over the underside of her wrist

and watched the shiver pass through her body. “You aren‟t only a tease. You‟re a lying little

tease. It‟s fortunate that we‟re here to reform you.”

“I hear this from one of the two biggest male teases I‟ve ever met.” She leaned over and

lightly nipped his upper arm through his shirt.

Shard gasped at the sting, his eyes flaring at the bold move. A growl rumbled in his

throat. “The little cat wants to play, does she?”

Kaleb stepped behind her and bent his head. His teeth closed over the strong muscle at

her neck and shoulder. Shard crowded in front of her and one of his hands dipped down,

gathering her skirt to her waist. He slid his hand over her smooth mound, running his fingers

around the swollen pink lips.

Lina moaned and her head tilted and dropped forward, giving Kaleb better access to that

sensitive spot. Her muscles loosened and she shifted, widening her stance in encouragement,